Hairy Man in Tutu Raises Money for Breast Cancer

New York photographer Bob Carey has been posing for self-portraits across the country in nothing more than a wisp of pink tulle for almost nine years. While one might assume his wife would be quite embarrassed, the posing is actually for her sake.

“Linda’s used to it,” says Carey. “She has a great sense of humor and has always been my biggest supporter.”

In 2003, Carey’s wife, Linda, was diagnosed with breast cancer. She beat it, only to have it recur in 2006. She has been undergoing chemotherapy ever since. Print and book sales from the Tutu Project portrait series will raise money for breast cancer research.

The pink tutu, surprisingly, was actually in Carey’s wardrobe before Linda’s illness. Nine years ago, a commercial assignment for Ballet Arizona gave him the idea for the portraits.

“My fine art photography has always been about transformation and [I] had an idea to begin a series of me in the tutu,” says Carey. His step-mother stitched the first version of the costume.

Shortly thereafter, Carey and his wife moved from Phoenix to New York and Linda was diagnosed. The tutu portraits took on a new purpose, providing both Carey and his wife a means to laugh in the face of ill health, fear and worry.

As can be expected, Carey’s public exploits have occasionally raised eyebrows. When he made a portrait aboard a car ferry he was confronted by six crew members, a police officer and a giant German shepherd.

“I asked for permission to shoot but apparently I didn’t talk to the right person,” says Carey. “They discovered that I was harmless.”

While seeing Carey in the act is probably one of the most notable events of an onlooker’s day, Carey himself has found unlikely vignettes while out shooting — such as a deserted Brooklyn subway station.

“Finding the Bedford Avenue stop empty still baffles me,” says Carey “It was 7 p.m. on a Friday night! And to have two trains pass at the exact moment I wanted to shoot? Stars were aligned.”

The Tutu Project locations are usually a matter of convenience rather than a result of scouting and over-thinking. When making portraits in the city, Carey always has an assistant to help with guarding equipment and the important public relations.

“There so much of my shooting that’s random,” says Carey. “I’m often by myself when I shoot because I take my tutu on the road when I travel for work. If Linda and I go on road trips, she’s there to make sure that the camera is firing.”

Having sequenced his self-portraits, Carey is taking pre-orders for a self-published photobook, Ballerina. It’s dedicated to the women who fight breast cancer, the survivors, their relatives and the physicians who help them along the way. All net proceeds from book sales will go to breast cancer organizations, such as CancerCare.org and the Beth Israel Department Integrative Medicine Fund.